Campanulas and Silene from seedex

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Further on the discussion of the previous weeks regarding wrongly named seed, I've got some items sown early this year which
look quite suspicious to me.  Could anybody confirm or deny following ID's ?

1 & 2) Silene elisabethae ?? - sorry, nr 1 is a bit blurry
3 & 4) Silene hookeri ingramii ??
5) Campanula barbata
6) Campanula raineri

All help is much appreciated ! 

[arisaema]

That last one looks an awful lot like a Symphyandra...

[Hristo]

Hi Luc,
Here we go.....
We have had your number 1&2 from the seed ex and it turned out to be Lychnis flos-jovis.
Your number 3 looks for all the world like Lychnis coronaria and Simon remembers someone mentioning they received Lychnis coronaria as Silene hookeri ingramii.
Your campanulas look campanula like but from experience they don't look like the leaves of barbata or raineri!
Hope this ties in with what you were thinking.
Best wishes
Chris

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for your help gents !!
My suspicions were confirmed.
I believe it was Maggi who mentioned something about Silene hookeri always turning into Lychnis coronaria...
That makes 4 out of 4 being the wrong plants... not a very good record... 
One can hardly look upon that as honest mistakes can one ?? 

[maggiepie]

I too have some campanula seedlings, the seeds came from trades and seedex lists ( what is the plural of seedex anyway? )

Would be great if someone can ID them.

Campanula alpestris
C. aucheri
C. barbata
C. barbata alba
C. mystery ( lost the tag  )
C.patula
C. primulifolia
C. sarmatica
C. saxifraga

[Lori S.]

Hi, Helen,
The first one is certainly not C. alpestris - it should have elongated spatulate leaves covered in bristly, backward-pointing white hairs... (at least compared to my seed-grown ones which flowered this year and seem to be authentic).
Your C. barbata may be correct... they show roughly the correct leaf shape (though mine are more elongate... perhaps due to older plants/older leaves) and hirsute character.
(I'd have to go out and find my C. sarmatica, wherever I moved it to... but yours seems likely correct, off-hand.)
C. saxifraga may also be correct... the elongated, spatulate leaves with slightly crenulated edges again seem to match my seed grown, seemingly-authentic ones.

[maggiepie]

Thanks Lori, so that's one definite ring in.
Not sure if I should reef it out or leave it until it flowers.

[Lori S.]

Gosh yes, might as well wait until it flowers! 

[Lesley Cox]

No 1 looks more like a Symphyandra (related to Campanula) and the last could well be saxifraga. Saxifraga, aucheri and tridentata are all quite similar though the latter tends to have quite shiny foliage. No 2 is not aucheri and the mystery is, I think, another symphyandra, perhaps the same as the first one. Barbata, at least the first one, looks pretty right.

[Sinchets]

I agree with the last being C.saxifraga, or a member of that group, with its blunt-ended and toothed leaf. Number 1 looks to me like C.allairifolia, or a related species such as C.makaschvilii, as does your mystery species.
I am sure the leaves of C.sarmatica should be longer and more spear-shaped.
The one you have as C.aucheri doesn't look right either.
Your C.patula could be true- or it could be the similar C.rapunculus.
I do agree with Lori- don't turf them out- just be careful where you plant them until you can be sure.

[fermi de Sousa]

Further on the discussion of the previous weeks regarding wrongly named seed, I've got some items sown early this year which
look quite suspicious to me.  Could anybody confirm or deny following ID's ?

1 & 2) Silene elisabethae ?? - sorry, nr 1 is a bit blurry
3 & 4) Silene hookeri ingramii ??
5) Campanula barbata
6) Campanula raineri

All help is much appreciated ! 

Hi Luc,
I think the first one is a Silene, but the rather common Silene armeria (called "Aunt Mary" by a friend who was the first to give me a plant), a common imposter but not too weedy!
cheers
fermi

[maggiepie]

Lesley, is symphandra invasive?
Thanks for your help.

Simon, thanks for your input. I think I might leave the patula in a pot until it flowers if you think it could be C.rapunculus.
After googling, I see that rapunculus is a biennial that can be used as a vegetable.
So think I will plant it in the veggie garden and see what happens

[Sinchets]

C.rapunculus doesn't run from the root like C.rapunculoides- so it's quite safe. In my experienceit seeds around lightly, but I usually leave it when it sows into stronger growing plants as they lend it support and I like the combination. C.patula does the same for me. I did have seeds of C.abietana once- which is similar but dwarfer, but I think these were C.patula too. I've never had the heart to use them as vegetables, though I read that's what they were grown for in the Middle Ages.

[Sinchets]

Luc, here are 2 pics of Silene armeria following on from Fermi's suggestion. A self-sowing annual here- and native too.

[Lori S.]

Symphyandras flower voluminously, and so self-seed hugely, but they don't run from the roots... at least, the ones I've grown.